Gross Anatomy Dry Laboratory Lower Body Practice Test

This question tests which nerve supplies the muscles in the lateral compartment of the leg. The fibularis longus and fibularis brevis are located in that lateral compartment, and their motor innervation comes from the superficial fibular (peroneal) nerve. This nerve branches from the common fibular nerve after it wraps around the fibular neck and travels down the lateral leg to supply those two muscles, while also giving cutaneous sensation to most of the dorsum of the foot. The deep fibular nerve, in contrast, innervates the anterior compartment muscles (like tibialis anterior and the toe extensors) and provides sensation between the first and second toes. The tibial nerve serves the posterior compartment and plantar foot muscles, and the sural nerve is primarily sensory to the posterior leg and lateral foot. So the nerve that innervates the fibularis longus and brevis is the superficial fibular nerve.